A/N: Hello fellow Klaroliners! Thanks for all the reviews and support! Your comments were so lovely and encouraging and I want to thank you all.

New chapter is here, I know people were eager for the flashback so I hope you like it! Enjoy, sweethearts!

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Caroline didn't sleep a wink. She crawled under the covers of her bed at round midnight after practically running out of the living room and away from Klaus but she couldn't switch her mind off. Her thoughts drifted to Klaus and Liam and what everything meant now that Klaus was back. He said he wanted to get to know his son and Caroline was happy because all she ever wanted was for Liam to know his father. Yet at the same time there was something in his words and a slight edge to his actions that had her thinking he wanted more than that, especially from her.

That thought scared her more than anything. It was hard, so unbelievably hard not to reach out and touch him, map the lines of his body that she use to know better than her own. He was Klaus and Caroline had to force down ever memory she had of him that came bubbling to the forefront of her mind, pretending he wasn't responsible for the woman she had grown to be. She wanted to kiss him and slap him at the same time but that was nothing new, he had always infuriated her.

This time was different, this time she had Liam to think about and she wouldn't get caught up in this game. Her heart couldn't take it no matter how much it may want it.

Klaus had always had that effect on her, right from the first moment they met. He was sexy and imposing and he made her feel like she was the only person on the planet to him. They were electric together and just the thought of it made her shiver beneath the covers.

Caroline was sitting at her usual booth in her local coffee shop, it's where she went to do all her work now a days. Her flatmate was the party type and even though it was late in the morning Caroline knew there would still be a loud gathering in the flat. So she had taken to packing up her books first thing in the morning, sitting in the coffee shop with a large expresso until she had to go to her lectures.

She had books on Law opened up, scattered around the already cluttered table. Her notebook was open, pen in her hand as she scribbled furiously. Her blonde hair was escaping her bun, falling around her face as she worked. Caroline was so engrossed in the task at hand she didn't even notice the man staring at her from his spot at the counter. His blue eyes were locked onto her from the minute he walked in and saw her.

Caroline wasn't even aware of his presence until he slid into the booth opposite her, causing the blonde to look up from her notebook. He was handsome with his dirty blonde curls, a teasing amount of stubble covering his jaw and stormy blue eyes that were trained on her. He was wearing a grey suit with a light blue tie knotted at his neck. Caroline couldn't help but notice how out of place he looked next to her in her ripped blue jeans and scruffy converses. He gave her a small smirk.

"Hello." Caroline said questioningly to break the silence. "Can I help you with something?"

He chuckled slightly, "I'm sorry, it's just you're so beautiful I had to come and talk to you." His accent alone killed her. Was it even possible for someone to sound that sexy?

"Seriously?" Caroline laughed, "That's what you call flirting?"

"Yeah, I don't flirt." He smiled, "You'll have to let me acquit myself."

"You'll have to work for it. I'm pretty busy."

"Law?" He questioned as he scanned the title of the nearest book, "My brother's a lawyer. He recently set up his own firm. What is your specialism?"

Caroline smiled and pointed to the book on her left, "Criminal Law. Defence is my strongest field at the minute." She said as she placed her pen down, "Are you a lawyer too?"

He laughed at that, "No," he paused slightly, "I can't say I have much interest in rules or laws."

"My mom is a small town cop so I guess it sort of runs in the family." Caroline replied.

"I'm the black sheep in my family," he smirked, "We have lawyers, police officers and my brother, Kol is a private investigator."

"So what do you do?"

"I'm a business man. Import, export, that kind of stuff." He said with a wave of his hand, "But enough about me. I want to talk about you."

Caroline laughed and she knew she was blushing, "Why?"

"I want to get to know you. Your hopes, dreams, everything you want in life."

"You don't even know my name," She reminded him.

"So tell me." He smiled.

Caroline bit her lip for a moment before responding, "Caroline. Caroline Forbes."

He reached his hand out for her to take, "I'm Klaus. It's a pleasure to meet you, Caroline." Her name rolled off his tongue as Caroline took his hand. Instead of shaking though Klaus brought it up to his lips to kiss the back of it.

"So why don't you let me buy you a coffee?" He offered and the look he shot her had her smiling like a fool.

"What's in it for you?"

"If coffee goes well, maybe dinner?" He proposed and Caroline laughed.

"Just for the record, I'm too smart to be seduced by you." She told him.

Klaus smirked, "Well, that's why I like you."

He took her to dinner three days after the coffee incident and things escalated from there. If only she knew then she would be here now. The covers were tangled around her body and she must have tried every position she could think of to try and get some sleep last night but none came.

Liam came running into her bedroom a few seconds later, jumping onto the bed with a giggle.

"Mommy, time to wake up!" He laughed as he crawled over to her.

Caroline smiled and sat up slowly, "Already?" she asked playfully as she ruffled his hair.

"I'm hungry." The little boy commented.

"We better feed you then." Caroline replied knowing she had to get ready for work and to drop Liam off at preschool.

"Jam on toast!" Liam exclaimed excitedly as he jumped off the bed and Caroline had to smile at his energy in the mornings.

She followed him down to the kitchen as she wrapped a robe around her frame, Liam's feet pounding on the floor as he ran through the house ahead of her. By the time Caroline got to the kitchen he was already scrambling himself into a seat at the breakfast island.

Caroline poured him some orange juice in a plastic cup before setting to work on popping the bread into the toaster and grabbing the jam from the cupboard. She was spreading the jam on the toast when Klaus entered the kitchen, she could tell from his face he didn't get much sleep either.

"Hey, you were here yesterday!" Liam pointed out as Caroline placed his breakfast in front of him.

Klaus chuckled, "Yes I was." He looked over at Caroline, wanting to know how she wanted to play this. She shook her head gently.

"I'm Nik." Klaus introduced, reading her face. He sat down next to Liam with a smile.

"I'm Liam." The little boy mirrored as he grabbed some toast, taking a bit.

"Klaus is Uncle Elijah's brother." Caroline explained.

"You don't look like Uncle 'Lijah." Liam commented causing Klaus to laugh.

"I guess I don't, mate."

Caroline smiled slightly at the interaction between the father and son. "Right, little man. We have to get you ready for school after breakfast."

"School's boring." Liam frowned at the table with a huff.

"I hated school," Klaus told him, "But when you grow up you will be thankful for it."

Elijah walked into the kitchen, his eyes taking in the scene before him. He shot Caroline a look and Klaus could see her nod slightly. He couldn't help the little niggle of jealously tugging at his chest at the action.

"How's the artist this morning?" Elijah asked as he poked Liam's side playfully. Klaus was taken back to this side of Elijah. It was one he only ever saw when they were children.

"I'mma paint a monkey today, Uncle 'Lijah!"

Elijah chuckled, "What colour?"

"Green." Liam stated matter-of-factly as he finished his toast.

"Well, I can't wait to see this masterpiece."

Liam turned to Klaus then, "Mommy and Uncle 'Lijah say I'm an artist just like my daddy."

Klaus looked at Caroline for a moment, a ghost of a smile on his face, "I'm sure he will be very proud of you, mate."

"He is working away and mommy doesn't know when he will be home." Klaus ignored the pain in his chest at the tone of Liam's voice. He wanted nothing more than to scoop the boy up and tell him everything.

"I bet he will be home soon, mate." Klaus promised and Liam smiled brightly at him.

Caroline quickly ushered Liam out of the kitchen after Klaus' promise, not wanting him to get his hopes up. Things with Klaus were a mess right now and she hadn't gotten the chance to talk to him about their situation and where they go now. She didn't want to confuse or disturb Liam until she had all the details herself.

Elijah and Klaus watched the pair leave before the brothers turned to look at each other. Elijah busied himself with making a black coffee as was his usual routine before work. Klaus was still sat at the breakfast bar, his eyes on Elijah.

"I can sense your judgement from here." Klaus drawled out causing Elijah to turn and look at him.

He sighed quietly, "Not Judgement." He corrected, "I just don't want to see them hurt. She has come a long way from the girl you knew."

"You don't think I see that." Klaus replied, "I see the strong, fierce, beautiful woman she is now. She has always been that to me, Elijah. You know the depth of my feelings for her."

"That's the problem. You threw that away, Niklaus. Any hope you had with Caroline ended the day you broke up with her. There is Liam to consider now, he needs stability." Elijah said as he poured water into his mug, grabbing a spoon to stir.

"I want her back." Klaus sighed, running a hand through his hair, "I love her, even after five years, I still love her."

"You need to listen to what she wants." Elijah reminded him as he placed the spoon down, "What you did to her nearly destroyed her."

"You think I wanted this to happen? That I wanted to miss my son growing up? That I wanted to break her heart." Klaus demanded, his anger peaking at the statement.

"I think your life is dangerous. I think you need to understand how badly you hurt her. I won't let you hurt that girl twice, Niklaus. She doesn't deserve that."

"I wouldn't hurt her or Liam. You have my word."

Elijah sipped his coffee, "Make sure you don't." he said before striding out of the kitchen, leaving Klaus alone with his thoughts.

/

Caroline didn't see Klaus again until she popped home at lunchtime to grab some papers she had forgotten that morning in her haste not to be late for work. He was sitting in the living room with a sketch pad in his hand and she smiled at the familiar sight. He would often sketch in his free time, sitting for hours working on a piece until he considered it perfect.

Klaus sensed her presence before she spoke, "You don't have to stand in the doorway, love."

Caroline jumped slightly as his accented voice reached her ears, "You still sketch."

"I didn't get a lot of time to work on things in prison so my skills are a bit rusty but it's not like I have a job to go to." Klaus smirked as he placed the sketchpad down, making sure Caroline couldn't see his latest work.

He gestured for her to sit down next to him and Caroline gave him a small smile before perching herself down at the opposite end of the couch, her hands smoothing out the navy blue material of her business dress.

"Thank you for earlier." She commented, "I just think we should wait to tell Liam you're his dad until we sort stuff out. We didn't get much time to talk last night."

Klaus nodded, "We do need to talk about everything, Caroline."

"I need to know what you're plans are. Are you going back to arms dealing? I know Marcel is running things now but I know you. You liked having an empire, Klaus."

"Caroline," Klaus sighed, shifting closer to her slightly, "My plans are you. You and Liam. I am not going to do anything that will take me away from my family, sweetheart. Marcel is welcome to my 'empire', it's nothing compared to the family you gave me." He sighed, "I'm just sorry I wasn't there to share it with you."

Caroline smiled shyly, "I was thinking about moving out." She admitted gently, "You are going to need your room back and I have the finances now to get a place for me and Liam. I just think it might be easier for us if we tried this thing without the added complication of living together."

"We practically lived together before." Klaus pointed out, "This is your home, Caroline. Liam is settled here. I don't want you to move out."

"What about…"

Klaus cut her off, "Liam would benefit from having both parents under the same roof, love. Don't leave, not when I just got you back."

"At least take your old room back." Caroline insisted, "I will move into a spare one."

"I wouldn't be able to sleep in that room without thinking of you." Klaus said softly, "Without thinking about us."

Caroline nodded mutely, "We need to talk about that too." She sighed, ignoring the bubble of excitement inside her at his words. She wouldn't do this, she wouldn't fall back into him. She was Caroline Forbes, she was strong.

Klaus frowned at her slightly, "Caroline…"

"Liam needs a dad, Klaus. You have to be a father to him, now. He needs you and you need to focus on him." Caroline said, her eyes meeting his stormy ones as she fidgeted with the hem of her dress.

"I will, Caroline. He is my son and I want nothing more than to make up for the time I wasn't there for him." Klaus replied, the determination in his voice strong, "I missed out on a lot but I will always be here for him, for both of you." He vowed. "I'm here to stay, love, you need to believe that."

Caroline paused, she wanted to but everything she knew told her not to, "You need to show me. I know you, I know how your life works and I won't put Liam in the middle of that."

"I'm done with that life, Caroline. The only life I want is the one with you and our son. Why do you think I am sat here in the middle of the day instead of being out looking for Marcel? I don't want to be that man anymore. I want to be the man I was with you, the one you fell in love with." Klaus replied.

"You can't say things like that, Klaus. Liam is the priority, I just can't…" she trailed off, tears threatening to fall as she looked away from his gaze.

Klaus grabbed her hand then, his voice soft, "I'm not giving up on us, sweetheart. If I have to fight to get you back then that's what I will do. I promise you that."

Caroline didn't say anything as she rose from the couch hoping to put some distance between them, "I have to get back to work."

Klaus nodded, not wanting to push her any more than he had already, "Have a good day, love." It was so domestic, reminding them both of happier times when he dropped her off after she spent the night at his place with a kiss.

"Bye, Nik."

That one word from her lips made him smile. That's what she use to call him, the word sounding like heaven from her tongue after all these years. That one word giving him hope that all wasn't lost.

/

So what do you think? Thoughts/feelings?

Please review! They keep me motivated and honestly they make my day!

Thank you!

Next chapter we will see some Klaus/Liam bonding and we are introduced to a few new characters! Stay tuned!